


After Death

by AckleIne



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-14
Updated: 2014-03-12
Packaged: 2018-01-04 15:04:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 12,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1082444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AckleIne/pseuds/AckleIne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Castiel's parents die in a fatal car crash and Castiel is the sole survivor, he is sent to live with his aunt and uncle. His family has left him a will, but he doesn't get claim to it until he is eighteen. Cas absolutely hates having to live with his aunt and uncle until he meets Dean Winchester. Will things remain on a friendly basis or will they realize that all their pent up tension could be something more?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Crash

**Chapter One**

“How long until we’re home?” I asked my parents, as I watched a deer jump down from the overpass and onto the sloping hill beside it. We were headed back from this banquet that we had to attend every year around Christmas time.Everyone who was anyone was required to go, well not required, but it would be in their best interests to attend. My parents were somebodies. Mom was a well known oncologist and has helped to make many cancer patients lives better. Dad is a criminal defense attorney and hasn’t lost a case yet, so they’re pretty well known in the world of money.

 If I remember right, the banquet raises money for cancer kids each year. I like that it does that, but it’s so hard to sit through two hours of speeches about nothing even related to the cancer kids. They’re given by the hosts and patrons, so I’m pretty sure that they’re allowed to ramble on about nothing in particular. If it were anyone else though, they’d get kicked off the stage for such idiocy.

“We’re almost there, Son, maybe another ten minutes or so,”  Dad replied, taking a few seconds to look in the rearview mirror at me. By this time, the deer had reached the side of the highway, waiting for its chance to cross. It couldn’t be that stupid, though, could it?

When our car was just a mere fifty feet from where it stood waiting, it decided to take its chances and cross. It took off running, but it wasn’t fast enough. We reached it in a matter of seconds, and my dad swerved to avoid running in to it, instead swerving towards one of the concrete columns that supported the overpass. He tried to swerve off course from the concrete column, but it was too late. We were too close.

I remember feeling like someone had torn the lungs from my chest and hearing a car horn honk unceasingly before the darkness swallowed me whole.

 


	2. What Happened?

**Chapter Two**

 

I opened my eyes slowly, trying to adjust to the bright glare of light coming not just from the dim light above, but also from the large window to my left and the light rays that it sent bouncing off the white walls into my eyes.

When my eyes were just starting to become adjusted, a nurse came in. They always seemed to know when a patient was waking up, like it was their psychic power or something.

“How are you feeling, Sweetie?” she asked with a genuine look of concern on her face.

I searched for a name tag, finding none, I replied with, “I feel okay. What happened?”

She looked at me, uncertain of how to proceed. “Honey, I’m sorry to tell you this, but you’ve been in a car crash.” Memories came flooding back to me of that night. The deer, my dad swerving and then swerving again, and blackness. “You’re lucky to be alive, or at least that’s what the doctor says. Your father hit that concrete column head on. He and your mother weren’t so lucky. The front of the car was smashed in so far and there was barely enough space for you back there.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, Honey, you’re parents didn’t make it. I’m so sorry,” she said, coming up to me and holding my hand, I guess for some kind of moral support.

I looked into her eyes and saw that she meant every word that she was telling me. I didn’t want to believe it, but why would she lie to me? Daring myself to meet her eyes, I asked her one last question, “Was it painless...for them, I mean?”

“I’m sure it was quick,” she replied after a little bit of hesitation, probably trying to choose the right words to say to me.

“And me...I was just fine.”

“Not right away. A whole crowd of cars had stopped to see what was going on and somebody called 911. They told the police that there had been an accident. Two adults dead and one teenage boy struggling to keep breathing. His guess was that a broken rib might have puncture your lung since your chest was badly bruised. The ambulance arrived shortly after. On the way to the hospital your heart stopped beating. You were dead for a few seconds until they brought you back with the defibrillator.”

I didn’t speak to her much after that. My head was filled with endless thoughts and questions. After I got the gist of one them, another would follow. Why hadn’t I died with my parents? Was there some reason for me not dying with my parents? Technically I had been dead for a few seconds. I had died along with my parents, but then I was brought back. But why? What was God’s plan for me? After a while they just sort of jumbled together and didn’t make sense anymore.

The nurse sat with me for about a half hour before she got up to leave. Just as she reached the door, she turned back to face me. “When you’re feeling a bit better, the police are here. They would like to know what happened.” And then she was gone.

 


	3. the policemen

**Chapter Three**

After about an hour, I decided that I was well enough to talk to the police. I didn’t want to talk to them; I didn’t want to talk to anyone, but I knew that it had to be done. My parents had taught me that when something had to be done, the sooner it was done, the better.

I pressed the little help button on the remote that was attached to the bed I was currently lying in.The nurse that had been in my room previously, rushed in. “What is it? What’s wrong?” she asked, coming over to the side of the bed and checking the bandages around my chest.

“Um...nothing’s wrong, not unless you count having to talk to the  police as a bad thing.”

“Oh,” she said. She looked relieved that it was nothing more than that.

She came back with two policemen about fifteen minutes later. One was a younger man, tan with dark brown hair and hazel green eyes. The other was a bit older with graying light brown hair.

The older one spoke first. “How you feeling, Son?”

“Fine, I guess.”

“That’s good. From what it sounds like, you’re lucky to be alive.”

“Yeah, so what did you want to talk about?”

“We just need to know what happened that night. It doesn’t matter if you remember everything now, but what you do remember could be very helpful information for us when we fill out this report.”

“Where do I start?”

“Well, start from the very beginning, the earliest memory you have of that night.”

I looked down at my hands. I didn’t want to tell my story to this man who knew nothing about me. It was obvious that he didn’t want to be here by the way he kept looking at the clock, then back to me, and then his little notepad. He probably had more important, more pressing matters to deal with.

I didn’t know where to begin, so I said the first thing I could think of. “My name is Castiel Collins, I’ll be eighteen in three months, and I have no parents.” From there, I told them about how we were at this banquet and how the deer jumped down from the overpass onto the sloping hill beside it. The whole time I spoke, the older policeman took notes.

The whole thing probably took no more than fifteen minutes, but to me, it felt like an eternity had passed. By the time I had finished, I was out of breath and my hands had started to shake.

“Thank you, Son. I’m sorry for your loss. Henderson, let’s go.” Henderson, the younger of  the two, turned to follow the older policeman out the door. But just as he got to the doorway, he turned around.  
“I’m sorry for your loss. I knew your mother personally. She helped my younger sister get better. My sister had leukemia and she has been cancer free for two years now,” Henderson muttered quietly. I was still looking at my hands, trying to get the memories from the night of the accident out of my head, but what he said had grabbed my attention and I looked up at him. “Your mother was her personal doctor and helped her with her adjuvant chemotherapy.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled back quietly. Henderson looked back at me with one last look of pity before he disappeared into the hallway after his partner.

 


	4. Alfie Bowen

 

**Chapter Four**

 

I was in the hospital for a week or so after that. The doctor said that I needed to let my lung and broken ribs heal a little. My father’s estate lawyer, Alfie Bowen, came by on my second to last day in the hospital.

I was finishing up eating my pudding, the only good hospital food, when a knock sounded on the door frame. They didn’t close the doors so in case of an emergency they wouldn’t have to waste time with opening them. I looked up to see Alfie come in.

“Hey, Castiel, how are you holding up?” Alfie questioned, as he came in and set his leather portfolio briefcase on the one small table beside my bed. He took a seat in the lone chair that sat beside it, facing me, and steepled his hands in his lap, studying me.

“I’ve been better. So what’s up, Alfie? I’m sure that you’ve got more important things to deal with than me, so let’s cut to the chase here, okay?” I sighed, as I placed my hands in my lap. Alfie was a nice enough man, but I was tired of all these people coming to see me, mostly friends of my parents. He was in his thirties with black hair already starting to gray and smile crinkles around his eyes, which might seem unusual for a lawyer, but while Alfie was all business in the courtroom, he was the life of the party outside of it.

Alfie was from the southern part of the United States, so when he spoke he had a slight accent. “Well, your father was a very prepared man and he had his will planned out years ago. Seeing as how you’re his son, and the only family that he has around here, you’re the only one who gets to see it.”

“He already wrote out his will?”  
“Yep.”

“So do I get claim to whatever’s in it right away?”

“Not quite. You get claim to whatever’s in it once you turn eighteen. For now, you get to stay with your next of kin. The only other family that your parents had was...well your mother was an only child so she had no one else…,” he began as he took out some papers from his briefcase. My mother’s parents had died when when she was very young, this I knew. She had told me the story several times, I’m not sure why. There were always tears in her eyes by the time she had finished; it was very painful for her, but I think it helped her deal with her grief.

“Ethan, your father, on the other hand, has a brother, Jebb. Jebb lives out in Maine, for now we’re going to have to send you out to live with them.”

“I don’t want to live with them,” I interjected. Maine was so far away from my quaint little house here in New York. “Why can’t I just live here?”

Alfie ran his hand through his hair, clearly frustrated with the fact that this wasn’t going to be as easy as he had anticipated. “I’m sorry, Castiel, but that’s just not possible. You’re required by law to live with adults, or some form of a parent, until you’re eighteen.”

“Fine,” I grumbled, tired of this conversation already. “I’ll stay with them until I’m eighteen. But once I’m eighteen, I’m moving right back here. I don’t want to live in Maine. I just want to stay here with my old friends and my old house.”

“So it’s settled then. Stop by my office once you’ve been released and we’ll make arrangements for your departure,” he drawled in his southern accent, as he collected his paperwork into a pile and placed it back into his briefcase.

I just rolled over onto my side, being careful not to put stress on any of my bruised ribs, and muttered “whatever” through clenched teeth.

There was the screeching of metal chair legs on linoleum floor behind me and the shuffling of feet. Alfie obstructed my view of the white wall that I had previously been glaring at. He placed his hand on my shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze. “I really am sorry for your loss, Castiel. Ethan was one of my best friends.” One tear had escaped from his left eye and had begun to fall down his cheek.

Angry tears had begun to fill my own eyes. I didn’t understand why my parents had been taken from me and I was sick of people always feeling the need to say “I’m sorry for your loss” all the time. I looked at him through bleary eyes and whispered angrily, “Yeah, me too.”

“It’ll get easier to deal with the pain, Castiel,” he mumbled, as if he had experience with the matter, and removed his hand from my shoulder.

 


	5. Travel Arrangements

When I got released from the hospital, I took a cab over to Alfie’s firm. It was a small little firm on the lower level of an apartment building. Alfie’s apartment was above it.

I got out of the cab and paid the cab driver with money that I had gotten from one of the nurses who had known my mother. I rang the button on the buzzer that had Alfie’s name beside it. He answered on the second ring and I spoke into the intercom telling him that it was me.

“Okay, come on up. The door to the firm is unlocked if you want to come that way or you can go through the main door of the apartment and take the stairs to my apartment. It’s on the third level, 3B,” he said.

I don’t know why he offered me a choice. It’s obvious that I would go through the firm. He made quite a bit of money so he could deck it out however he wanted. One thing that most other firms didn’t have, but he did, was an elevator to his apartment. Personally, I would never have one. There’s a lot of angry people in the world, especially when they don’t get their way or what they want. If you’re an estate lawyer, you can deal with these kinds of people everyday and I wouldn’t want them to know where I live or give them quick, easy access to my apartment. At least with stairs, I would have some sort of warning before they came barging through the door.

When I got into the elevator, I hit the up arrow. There were only two buttons in there, direction wise, an up arrow and a down arrow. The ride lasted only a few seconds.

“Hey, Castiel. I got everything planned for your trip to Maine,” Alfie murmured around a mouthful of toast, as I stepped out of the way of the closing elevator doors.

I hadn’t thought that he would have everything planned right away. “Um...okay. I’ll need to stop by the house before I go. When do I leave?”

“Tomorrow. You can stay here tonight and tomorrow I’ll drive you to the airport myself.”

“Yeah, sure, so can we stop by my house tonight?”

For a moment he just stared at me, while he worked on eating his toast. “Just let me finish my toast, Castiel, and then we can stop by your house. No need for you to get so antsy.”

“Sorry,” I sighed, as I sat in the chair across from him. “I just hadn’t expected to be leaving _right_ after I got out of the hospital”

“I hadn’t either,” he started as he finished the last of his toast and grabbing his plate, taking it over to the sink, “but your uncle Jebb insisted that I get you over to his place as soon as possible. He says that he wants you to get settled in before school gets back in session in a week. They’re on springbreak in Maine right now I guess.”

I sighed again, this time in irritation, and slumped in my chair. School had not been in my plans. I was just going to go live with Jebb until I was eighteen and then come back here so that I could claim whatever it was that my dad had left me in his will.

Going to school meant meeting new people, other teenagers. I wouldn’t mind so much if it weren’t for the fact that I already don’t fit in with the other teenagers at my current school. My maturity levels are higher than theirs’ and that makes me an outcast I guess. Honestly, I don’t mind; I’m naturally a loner, the kind of person who sits on the sidelines and watches what everyone else does, but I’m okay with that.

I’m not a complete loner; I have a few friends, but they’re not exactly the type of people I would regret leaving behind. My parents made me have friends, said I needed to socialize more, so I did. I made two friends, Gavin and Harry.

“You ready?” Alfie asked, as he grabbed his coat. I nodded and forced myself to get up. This was going to be difficult, walking back into my childhood home...that I used to share with my parents.

 


	6. One Last Look at the Past

 

 

**Chapter Six**

 

We arrived at my house shortly after. As Alfie paid the cabbie, I stood in front of the steps that lead into our mansion, trying to collect myself.

Our mansion...my mansion...is located outside of New York, in the country. It has a long dirt road that is surrounded by trees on both sides. This road leads to our driveway, which is asphalt, not dirt. I’m not sure why my parents decided to do this. Obviously between the two of them, they would have had enough money to make the dirt road an asphalt road too. Anyways, the mansion is white and there’s a long porch that stretches the full length of the front of the house. White columns are spaced evenly throughout it to support the roof.

Inside is amazing. It’s built more like a skyscraper than a regular house. The walls and floors are filled with concrete, to help this house last longer. I mean, it’s already old, but I think they wanted it to last for forever. The floors are all polished marble, but the walls are made of wood, mostly, besides the concrete filling. The woods are beautiful, sanded and coated in some kind of protectant, so they always look alive and vibrant.

I’m still standing there in front of the massive front doors, staring, when I hear Alfie come up behind me. “You ready?”

I suck in a deep breath before I say, “As ready as I’ll ever be.” And then I walk the couple of steps to the doors. I turn the knob, it’s cool to the touch, and they slowly creak open. Everything’s just as I remember it. The coat hook still holds all of our jackets. As I walk down the hallway, I notice that all the dirty dishes are still in the sink to my right and to my left still sits Mom’s open book and Dad’s papers are still stacked on the coffee table in the living room.

Tears try to escape my eyes, but I won’t let them. I force them back down and tell myself that I have to be strong, have to move on.

My rooms upstairs. It’s large, but I don’t have a lot of stuff to fill it. I grab my duffel bag from the closet and move to my dresser, grabbing only what’s necessary. Clothes, a few of my favorite books that my dad gave me, the cross necklace that my mom gave me, and a picture of us all, when we were happiest and still looked like a family.

I take one last look around my room before leaving. Out in the hall, I hear a floorboard creak. The noise seemed to be coming from my parent’s bedroom. Trying to be quiet and place my weight evenly, I head toward the source of the creaking floorboards. Gently, I push the door open to reveal Alfie in my parents bedroom snooping for something.

“What are you doing in here?” I whisper fiercely. He whips around, surprise written all over his features.

“Castiel, I didn’t hear you come in. I’m looking for something that was very important to your dad and me when we were kids,” he admits, as he looks at his hands shamefully. “I just don’t know where it would be.”

Instead of answering him, I just stand there, still unsure whether or not I should believe him. “What is it?”

“It’s a baseball. Signed by Don Mattingly.”

I let out a sigh. There’s only one baseball that I knew my dad had owned. It was in my duffle bag right now. My father had given it to me when I was young, told me to look after it. But why would Alfie want it?

“Let’s pretend for a minute that I know where that baseball is.”

“Okay, let’s pretend.”

“Why should I give it to you?”

He’s quiet for a while, with his arms crossed over his chest, while he stares off into the distance, as if remembering something. “Because when we got that baseball, we were still kids trying to figure out the world. It was back before all the responsibilities that we have...I have…now were laid on our...my...shoulders. Everything was so much easier then and I just want a little something to remember Ethan by.”

Satisfied with his answer, I dig the baseball out of my duffel bag. “Just don’t lose it.”

He takes the baseball from my hand and heads out of their room, down the stairs, and out the front door. I follow, leaving my house behind me.

 


	7. The Airplane

**Chapter Seven**

 

The next day, Alfie wakes me up at 6:00 in the morning to tell me that my flight leaves at 7:00 and I need to be ready by then.

I rub groggily at my eyes, stretch my arms above my head, and rise from my spot on the couch. My bag lies across the room; I cross over to it and grab the clothes I need, then head to the bathroom for a shower.

The water is hot and feels great on my aching muscles. I must have stayed in one position all last night, or the couch is really uncomfortable, either way I don’t care.

After I’m done, I head out into the kitchen where Alfie already sits, eating waffles this time. A stack of them sits at the other end of the table. I sit down and begin shoveling food into my face immediately; I guess I hadn’t realized how hungry I was.

I finish eating and put my plate on the counter next to the sink. It’s 6:30, half an hour until my flight. Grabbing my bag, I head for the door.

Alfie stops me. “Do you have everything you need?”

Assuming he means money, I say, “No, I thought I would walk there and clear my head. Besides, you’ve done enough for me already, Alfie. I don’t want to trouble you more.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’d never make it there in time,” he drawled, as he shoved a twenty in my hand. “That should cover it. Call me if you need anything, Castiel.”

“Yeah, sure,” I mutter, not sure how I should feel about this. Maybe he just feels bad about my dad dying and that I’m his responsibility now. “See you in three months, Alfie.”

I grab my bag and head out the door.

The ride to the airport is short. I’ve never rode on an airplane before and I feel kind of nervous. It didn’t help that I had to wait fifteen minutes to get on the plane. I didn’t have a lot of money so I was going to be flying low class.

I climb the steps to the airplane slowly, telling myself that everything will be okay. Luckily, I had a plan. I had brought sleeping pills so that the flight to Maine would be painless and I wouldn’t have to deal with any anxiety attacks about any sudden deaths that might occur.

My seat is a bulkhead window seat. I chose this area because I didn’t want any seats reclining into me and so I could rest my head against the window to rest.

I shove my bag into the stingy, blue compartment above me, and take my seat. The red seats aren’t all that comfortable. They feel like something you would sit in at a broken down, cheap movie theater.

A few minutes later, people began to board. They were mostly families with their young children. I couldn’t help but look at all those little kids and be jealous. They still had their parents; I didn’t, never would again.

I decided that then would be a great time to take my sleeping pills and be ready to fall asleep right after we take off. Dubiousness overcomes me. How many should I take? I decide on three and take a huge gulp of water out of the glass that one of the flight attendants had brought around earlier. It doesn’t take long for me to feel the pull of the drugs. But as much as I want to dive into oblivion and escape, I can’t yet. I wait for the pilot to announce to everyone through the intercom that we will be leaving and that everyone has to take their seats and buckle up.

I remember feeling the slight jolt of the plane as it lifted off the ground and the faint buzz of people’s voices before I let the sweetness of oblivion swallow me whole.

 


	8. The Dream

**Chapter Eight**

 

I’m dreaming; I know this because there are three things here that shouldn’t be, two of them human and one of the canine.

My parents sit on a red blanket under the shade of a nearby oak tree. A picnic basket sits between them and they laugh at something they’ve just said. Sadie, a pit bull we had when I was six, runs around them while a younger version of me swings on a swing set a little ways in the distance.

Looking around, I realize that I know this park. It’s one of the last places we went as a family, before they both got engrossed in their jobs and were about making money. This is one of my better memories of my parents. We stayed there all day. Sadie ran around, chasing birds and squirrels. I played with all the other kids there. We played tag, chased each other up and down the slides, climbed the monkey bars, and had contests to see who could swing the highest. I remember feeling like I was going to wrap myself around the top of the swing set and feeling like I had lost my stomach somewhere in between.

Mostly, I loved this memory because my parents seemed so happy then, so in love. My dad would whisper endearing things into my mother’s ear. She would look at him with a smile that reached her twinkling eyes and squeeze his hand to show she felt the same way. They would talk about their day and eat turkey sandwiches with pepperjack cheese. Then they would call me over and I would lie between them. We would all lie on our backs and watch the clouds go by, calling out what each of them looked like to each of us. That was back before time was money to them, before they had risen up in the world of money.

I’m thrown from that happen memory to a more recent nightmare. I watch as a doe jumps down from the overpass to the sloping hill beside. She cranes her head intently, as if searching for something. At first I don’t see it, but then I do. Across the highway is a fawn, mostly hidden in the long grass of the ditch, the tip of its ears barely visible.

I see our car and watch as it swerves to avoid the mother deer, careening right into the concrete column of the overpass. A blue SUV squeals to a halt and the driver hops out, running to our aid. He looks inside and sees that we’re all in pretty bad shape, or at least that I am. Panic crosses the strangers face and he pulls out his cell phone, dialing 911.

The ambulances arrive a few minutes later. The paramedics call for two body bags and zip my parents into them. A firetruck arrives; they use snips to cut the door out of the way and haul me away in the back of the ambulance.

Meanwhile, the doe has crossed the highway. She and her fawn make her way into the woods. At the treeline, the doe stops and looks back just once, as if she’s thankful to be alive.


	9. Uncle Jebb and Aunt Kathy

**Chapter Nine**

I awake with a jolt. The planes wheels are screeching and bouncing off the airstrip, trying to land, and I can’t shake the feeling of the dream. It couldn’t possibly be real could it? I shouldn’t know how this happened to me. My parents couldn’t have died for a doe to be with her fawn. They were more important.

Finally, the wheels touch down and we’re slowing to a stop. The intercom buzzes on and the pilot tells us that it’s safe to unbuckle. I wait for the people on the outer seats to get out before I even bother with my seat belt. It takes them about ten minutes to get their stuff from the compartment above me and file out of the plane. Then I grab my stuff and get in the single file line and wait as we slowly shuffle along.

About fifteen minutes later, I break into the sunlight. It’s so bright that I have to bring up one of my arms to shield my eyes. Shivering a little, I walk down the steps and head toward the main door of the airport. Jebb had insisted that he be the one to pick me up, said a taxi driver would charge loads to drive into the backwoods where he and Aunt Kathy live.

I push open the door and a gust of stale, dry, warm air hits me in the face. My nose crinkles at the thought of having to go in, but I do anyways.

Jebb never said where I should wait for him or if he would be waiting for me. Truthfully, I didn’t see him as the kind of guy to be waiting there with a sign in hand that read “CASTIEL”. However, I did see him as the kind of guy who would pull up in his rusty pick up wearing overalls with a straw hat and a piece of wheat hanging out of the corner of his mouth. I would just have to wait and see.

Time passes, as I sit in my seat closest to the door, and I began to wonder if Uncle Jebb had forgotten about me. Just when I thought that I couldn’t  take it anymore, a man burst through the door. He wore a maroon button up shirt that he tucked into the top of his jeans and cowboy boots. His hair was dark brown and he had blue eyes, like me and my father before me.

Noticing my stare, he heads in my direction. When he’s a mere five feet away, he stops and looks down at me. “You’re Castiel aren’t you? I can tell just by looking at you. You look just like your father.” To anyone else, I’m sure that would be a compliment. But for me, I can tell it was an insult. I’m not sure why my dad had never let me see his brother Jebb. Or maybe Uncle Jebb just didn’t want to come visit us.

Pushing those thoughts away, I reply with a half hearted yep.

“Well, grab your stuff and let’s get going.” He’s already out the door before I’m out of my seat. I hurry to catch up, not wanting to be left in that pungent smelling airport any longer.

He leads me through rows and rows of vehicles until we come to a stop in front of a red 450 Ford xlt. My eyebrows unintentionally raise at the sight of it. This was so not what I was expecting; it was better.

I throw my stuff into the back and climb into the passenger seat. The whole ride there I can’t help thinking about what kind of other vehicles they might have and if they’ll let me drive to school.

Jebb is quiet the whole ride to his house and I don’t mind. I’m not ready to be answering a ton of questions. The ride is very long, an hour and a half at the least, and I’m relieved when we begin to pull into what I assume is his driveway.

He parks the Ford in front of a white plantation style house. It’s definitely not as big as my house, but it’s still pretty big. The door opens and out steps a woman. Her hair is long and blonde, which she wears in a long braid down her back. Getting out of the car, I see that she is wearing a long white dress with cowboy boots.

When she sees me, she smiles a huge, genuine smile that reaches her eyes and wraps me in a hug. “Castiel, how nice to finally meet you. You look just like your father.”

“Thanks. You too,” I say into her hair. Pulling away, I grab my bag from the truck and allow her to lead me into the house.

 


	10. Meeting the Family

 

**Chapter Ten**

My room is on the second floor, third door on the right. Their house is really big and it’s a good thing too. They have six kids and a bunch of staff to keep their house running. I’m not really sure how they can afford to pay all the staff. I don’t even know what my aunt and uncle do for a living. Anyways, Austin, Jake, and Perry’s rooms are all on the second floor too. Kate, Emma, and Ivy’s rooms are all on the first floor.

“You’ll stay in here,” Aunt Kathy chirps, obviously happy that I will be staying with her. I walk into the room. It’s large like my last room. The walls are blue and the floor is wood, dark and polished. Currently, there’s one large dresser with a flat screen on it in one corner, a bed, and a rug to occupy it.

“Thanks,” I reply, as I set my duffel bag on the bed.

“No problem. Supper is in an hour. Feel free to get settled in until then.”

I nod my head in reply and begin to unload my clothes into the dresser. Once I finish with my clothes, I head over to the one lone door to the left of my bed that I hadn’t noticed earlier. I open it to find a bathroom on the other side. It’s fairly large, with a huge shower, jacuzzi, and other necessities.

Coming back out into my room, I notice a piece of paper on my dresser. It reads:

_**Rules:** _

_1\. Curfew is 11._

_2\. On weekends, curfew is 1._

_3\. You need permission from us to go anywhere._

_4\. No girls allowed in your room._

_5\. Homework and chores need to be done before you can go anywhere. Chores include the following:_

_a. Keep your room and bathroom clean._

_b. Do dishes on Mondays and Fridays._

_c. Feed the horses on Wednesdays._

_6\. Don’t back talk to your Aunt Kathy or Uncle Jebb._

_7\. Don’t fight with any of your cousins._

_8\. You won’t be driving to school. You will be riding with your cousins and Austin will be the only one driving._

_9\. No lying, stealing, doing drugs, partying, or drinking._

_10\. If you violate one of these rules, you will be kicked out._

Great. Not only do I have to go to school, but I have to come home to boot camp every night. Also, I hadn’t realized that they had horses. The stable must be out behind the house somewhere. By the time I finish reading through the rules and trying to get used to the idea that I’ll have less freedom here, there is only ten minutes until I have to eat. I decide to use this time to freshen up a little bit.

I head down stairs with a few minutes to spare, finding the dining room pretty easily. The table is long with four chairs on each side and one at each end. Aunt Kathy sits at one end and Uncle Jebb sits at the other. All but two chairs are occupied by my cousin, one on either side of Aunt Kathy. I choose the one to her right, next to the oldest looking girl.

“So, Castiel, did you find the rules okay? I thought that putting them on the dresser would help you find them better,” Aunt Kathy starts and when I nod that to show that I did in fact find them, she continues. “That’s good. We just want you to do your part around here. Oh, and school starts tomorrow. Be awake and ready by 7:30 so that you can catch a ride with your cousins. Speaking of your cousins, we should probably do introductions.”

The girl to my right speaks first. “I’m Kate, I’m seventeen, and a senior like you.” She has blonde hair and green eyes like her mother.

Next, is the girl next to Kate. “I’m Emma. Sixteen.” Her hair is dark brown, like her father’s, but her eyes are green. She has glasses and braces.

“I’m Ivy,” says the girl on the end. She has sandy brown hair, cut short, and blue eyes. “I’m twelve.”

The boy across from Ivy speaks next. “I’m Jake. I like monster trucks and fishing,” he says, but because he’s young, it sounds like he says “twucks” instead of “trucks”. “I’m seven and the youngest.”

“Hi, I’m Perry. I’m a freshman, fifteen,” the boy next to Jake says, as he looks down at his lap. It’s obvious that he’s either texting or playing video games.

“Perry, put that away,” the final kid says. “You know mom and dad don’t like it when you play your D.S. at the table.”

“Yes, Perry, please put your D.S. away,” Uncle Jebb mutters around a mouthful of food.

“Oh, and I’m Austin by the way. I just turned eighteen last week.”

I had been silent this whole time, waiting for them all to finish talking. Not sure what to say to all these people, I settle on, “Hey, nice to meet you all. I’m Castiel.” For the rest of the meal, we say nothing. We’re all unsure of what to talk about. Austin and Kate try to small talk, but the conversations usually died away.

After supper, I go up to my room and find a backpack next to my dresser. I find a note that says:

_In case you didn’t have one._

_-Aunt Kathy_

I set the note back down and climb into bed. Thoughts keep swirling around in my head. What if I’m a loner at this school too? What if I don’t fit in? Will my cousins ignore me at school or invite me to sit with their friends? Will the classes be easy or hard? What does it feel like to be the new kid? I guess I would find out. Pushing those thoughts away, I let myself drift off into sleep.


	11. Dean and Jo

**Chapter Eleven**

 

The next morning, I wake up to the sounds of shouting outside my door. Why are people shouting? It’s so early. Then I remember that I have school.

I hastily jump out of bed and run to my dresser, throwing on a pair of jeans and a tight fitting grey T-shirt. Grabbing my backpack, I run out the door and door the stairs. Austin is just heading out the door when he sees me.

“I thought you were never going to wake up. Don’t you have an alarm clock or a phone to set an alarm?”

“I have an iPhone 5, but I didn’t even think to set an alarm. I was so tired last night; I guess I just kind of dozed off before the thought even crossed my mind.”

“Just make sure that you set it tonight. We can’t afford to wait for you and my parent’s wouldn’t have been happy if you had missed school on your first day.”

“I won’t forget,” I state firmly. Hardly been here a day and I’m already being grilled. I follow him outside and into a passenger van that waits outside. It’s black and has flames on the sides, along with the words “hic et nunc” painted on the back doors.

“What does 'hic et nunc' mean?” I ask Austin.

He looks back at me for a moment in the rearview mirror before returning his gaze to the road. “It means ‘here and now’. It’s a little something me and one of my buddies came up with. His younger brother had cancer last year and he decided that they needed a motto, something to keep them going.”

“Oh,” I breathe. I know all too well about the world of cancer, about how it destroys not only the patient’s life, but the lives of those who love them as well. I don’t speak for the rest of the ride.

When we arrive at school, I get out and head to the main office to get my schedule. I get crappy classes. Period one is Chemistry, period two is Pre-Calc, period three is P.E, after that I have lunch,  period four is Spanish II, and period five is Anatomy and Physiology. Apparently they know that I’m a genious. Yay, that means so much more homework for me.

I leave the office and head to my first class. The school is small so I don’t have any trouble finding my Chemistry class. Taking a glance around the room, I realize that I share this class with Austin, who is sitting next to some girl and some guy. He waves me over.

“Hey, Castiel. This is Jo Harvelle,” he says, as he gestures to the girl, “and this is Dean Winchester. He’s the one I was telling you about earlier in the car.” At first I don’t get what he means by that, but then I remember him telling me about this guy whose younger brother had just gotten over cancer.

Jo has blonde, curly hair and brown eyes. She’s fairly pretty and I can tell that she’s checking me out. Dean has short brown hair and green eyes.

“Nice to meet you,” I say and offer them a smile.

“Likewise,” Jo says in a flirty voice. I just smile and nod at her.

“So where are you from?” Dean asks.

“New York.”

“Hm.” Is all he has time to say because the teacher walks in and I’m forced to take my seat. I choose the seat behind Dean because he doesn’t creep me like Jo does with all the flirting she keeps doing.

The rest of my day goes by pretty slow until I get to Anatomy and Physiology. There wasn’t anybody in any of my other classes that I knew. 

I walked into Anat. and Phys.; I noticed that Dean was there and crossed the room, taking the seat next to him.

“Jo really likes you,” he says suddenly. He had been quiet up until now.

“Yeah, I could tell. Is she like that with everybody?”

“No. She usually ignores every boy that comes her way. But there must be something special about you.”

“Not really,” I mutter, noticing the edge in his voice. “So how long have you two been dating?” I ask, louder this time.

He laughs and I just give him a weird, scrutinizing look. “Oh, we’re not dating. She’s my cousin and it’s my job to look out for her. And believe me, she makes sure that it’s a hard job.”

My face grows hot with embarrassment. “I can’t believe I thought that you two were dating.”

“It’s fine,” he replies, with a smirk. “No harm done. Just so you know, she plans on asking you to the formal this Friday.”

Dean doesn’t talk to me for the rest of class after that and when the final bell rings, I race out of the school like a bat out of hell. I don’t really want to talk to Jo just yet. I mean, I just met the girl and already she wants me to go to a dance with her...talk about crazy.

 


	12. Muscles and bones

The next day, I walk into Chemistry cautiously. Jo is no where in sight when I take my seat next to Austin and Dean.

“You alright?” Austin asked, as he looked from the door and back to me.

I flash my eyes Dean’s way before I say, “Yeah, I’m fine, just a little more popular than I want to be.”

“Ha. Been there. Done that,” Austin chuckled.

The bell rang and I couldn’t talk anymore. Mr. O’donoghue was just beginning to take roll call when Jo rushed into the room, breathless. She took the seat across from Dean.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dean give Jo a worried glance. “Where’ve you been?” he whispered urgently.

“I had to go out on a hunt,” she whispered back just as quiet.

Who goes hunting in the middle of the night? Or even the morning? Castiel thought. He hadn’t been trying to overhear, but they weren’t very good at whispering.

 I glanced over my shoulder to take a quick look at Dean. His eyes were dark and his face was drawn tight with even more worry than before.

Jo gave him a look that obviously meant they would talk about it later-when there weren’t as many bystanders about most likely.

I tired to pay attention to the teacher for the rest of class, or at least make it seem like I was paying attention, because I didn't want Dean to know that I had been listening to his and Jo's conversation.

When the bell rang, I bolted. I thought that if I got out of there soon enough Jo would be able to corner me into asking her out.

Out in the hallway, I watched out of the corner of my eye as someone fall into step beside me.

"Hey," Jo began nervously, running a hand through her hair.

"Hey," I replied meekly, internally I sighed. "What's up?"

"Well...," she began hesitantly. "I was wondering if you wanted to go to the formal with me this Friday." She practically asked the whole question in one quick breath so it sort of came out as one long, jibberish word.

Seeing as how I didn't have the guts to tell her otherwise, I said yes. It was a decision that I knew I would come to regret later, but how could I say no? After all, it would be my first dance.

The rest of my day went by pretty slow until I had anatomy and physiology. I walked into the classroom and took the same seat that I had the day before. Looking around, I noticed that Dean wasn't there yet. I didn't mind. If he were there, he probably would've bombarded me with questions regarding his cousin.

Dean raced into the room with a few seconds to spare and took a seat on the other side of the room. not once did he glance in my direction, which I took as a good sign.

For the first half hour of class all we did was take notes. Mr. Wolfeson felt like we'd been slacking because all the class was doing was talking, so he decide to assign us a group project. Unfortunately for those who had friends in the class, you didn't get to choose your partner and unfortunately for me, Mr. Wolfeson decided to go from the bottom of the list to the top. I was third to last, but that didn't mean that I had to wait long to find out who my partner was. Dean was first to be called and I was his partner.

Once we found out who our partners were, we were required to gather up all of our belongings and go sit next to them.

"Hey," I said as I sat down. "You were right. Jo did want to ask me to the formal on Friday." It wasn't something that I really wanted to talk about, but I couldn't think of anything else to say and it was bound to come up sooner or later.

"Yeah, I know. She told me all about it last block. Don't break her heart or anything. She's been through a lot." Dean looked like he wanted to say more, but Mr. Wolfeson began explaining the project. We had to draw and lable all the bones and muscles in the human body.

"So," Dean continued when Mr. Wolfeson finished, "do you want to do this at my house or yours?"

"We can do it at your house. There'll be less distractions there. Why don't you give me your address and I'll meet you there after school?"

He nodded. "Okay. Give me your phone and I'll type it in." I gave it to him and a few minutes later he handed it back.

It read:

_My address is 233 kings court. You do know that my brother and I live with Jo and her mom right? As if that won't be a distraction..._


	13. Dean's Alternative

I pulled into Dean's driveway on 233 kings court at 6 just like we had agreed upon. It had taken me a while to get there since I had decided to walk and because my phone's gps kept leading me in the wrong direction.

Just as I was about to knock, I received a text telling me to just walk right in.  His house was like any other modern American farm house- big with a lot of extra space.

Dean was walking down the stairs when I came in. He was pulling a shirt down over his finely muscled body and I looked away so it wouldn't be awkward.

"Hey," he said a few seconds later, finally noticing that I was there. "You want anything to drink or...eat?"

I took a moment to asses my hunger and thirst. "No. Thanks though. So you ready to start on that project?"

"Actually I had something else in mind. My friend Chuck Shurley is having a party. You should come so you can meet everybody."

I was shocked. Why was Dean being so nice to me? I was new and he knew nothing about me. Plus he's popular and I'm not.

"Why are you offering to take me to a party?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

"I mean I'm new. Usually the new kids get picked on."

Understanding crossed his face as he realized what I meant. "Because you're Austin's cousin and he's been a good friend of mine for a long time. He helped me get out of some bad situations. I figure this is the least I can do to repay him."

I had know idea what he was talking about but a party really did sound like a good idea. "Sure. I'll go. But I can only be out til one. I would stay out later, but if I break any of my aunt and uncle's rules I'll be kicked out."

"The party doesn't start until later, so I guess we could work on our project now," he grimaced. "Science isn't really my thing."

"That's fine. Part of having rich parents is money, so they could make sure that I got the proper education...," I said, trying to lighten the mood, but it only brought back painful memories from that awful night. I pushed those thoughts from my mind and forced a laugh.

Dean smiled a smile that didn't quite reach the corners of his eyes. "Well, at least one of us is smart. Come on we have a lot of work to do and only a little bit of time to do it."

He started up the stairs and I followed; he led me to what seemed to be his bedroom. It was large with dark blue walls and mahogany wood floors. His room was spacious, mostly because he didn't have hardly anything in it. A king size bed sat next to the wall across from the door with a nightstand next to it. Against the wall to the left of the bed stood a dresser and across the room from it, a computer desk with a laptop on it and desk chair pushed into it.

I walked in and sat on the bed, unsure of where else should sit, and asked, "So where's Jo? I thought she was supposed to be here."

Dean sat, sprawled out nonchalantly, in the desk chair. "No. She went to one of her friend's houses to get ready for the party."

"Oh. I thought that she would be here since you know...she likes me," I sighed in relief. Then I realized that I might have sounded content with her not being here and I felt heat rush to my face.

"No," Dean chuckled, " I didn't tell her that you were coming over. Be less of a distraction for you when it came to working on our project."

I smiled in relief. He hadn't noticed that I was happy she wasn't here; he'd mistaken it for nervousness.

For the next three hours, we worked on our project using adobe illustrator. The teacher hadn't said we had to draw it by hand. When our three hours were up, we had the bones and half of the muscles drawn.

"Oh shit," Dean exclaimed under his breath as he glanced at the time on the laptop. "I told loss aid meet her there at ten and it's already nine. I still have to shower. Think you can occupy yourself ten minutes?" he asked without waiting for answer.

I watched as he hastily grabbed random clothes from his dresser and raced out the door; I heard his footsteps down the hall and then the slam of the bathroom door.

For the next few minutes, I used my phone to go on tumblr and twitter. My tumblr was one of all the fandoms I was a part of. No one cool has a personal one. Twitter was the same old same old-celebrity drama and my favorite hockey and baseball teams had one yet again.

Dean returned about 15 minutes later instead of 10. He was rubbing a towel through his hair, trying to get some of the water out of it, when he came strolling into the room.

"Do I look okay? I mean do my clothes look casual yet party-ish? I don't want to make it seem like I dressed up for Lisa."

I gave him a once over. He was wearing a  black, tight fitting "carry on my wayward son" blue jeans. _Did I just notice that his shirt was tight fitting???_

"Uhhh...yeah I guess," I replied a few moments later.

"Ok. Good enough for me," he said, grabbing a coat from his bed that I hadn't noticed earlier, and walking out the door.  "Let's go."

I followed him down stairs and out a door that led to the garage. Inside was a rusty old beater Toyota corolla.

"Funny," I muttered under my breath.

Dean looked back at where I had stopped in the doorway. He smiled. "Not what you were expecting?"

"No I had you pegged for a sports car lover."

"Well, you're right. My dream car is a 1967 Chevy Impala. Now come on. Let's go I don't want to keep Lisa waiting."

 

 


	14. There's a First Time for Everything

When we arrived at Chuck's house, the party was in full blast. Chuck's house was huge compared to Dean's. People were out in the front yard with a table set up playing beer pong while others had pulled out a couch to watch. Other people were dancing to music from a stereo someone had brought outside. Couples were making out in the shadows of the house or trees that were spread sporadically throughout the yard.

My eyes were wide with surprise. This was not what I was expecting to see. Although, I had no idea what I had expected to see.

I noticed that Dean was looking my way. When he saw my expression, he doubled over with laughter, one arm across his ribs and his other hand braced on his knee for support, so he wouldn't fall over.

"What?" I asked, suddenly self conscious. Was I supposed to act a different way?

Finally finished with his laughing fit, Dean wheezed out, "Nothing. Your face...was...priceless. That's...all."

"Okay. Whatever. Let's go inside. You gotta go find Lisa," I said switching the subject from me to something that would easily get his attention.

If I thought outside was chaos, inside the house the party was way more hectic. There was a live DJ in the living room where the furniture had been cleared away so that a mass of bodies could dance. Their dancing consisted of groping each other and swaying to the beat or jumping and fist pumping.

In the kitchen, people were dancing anywhere they could. A select few were dancing on the counters and table. In the corner, a group a jocks were building a pyramid out of red solo cups and beer cans. The combo didn't work to well for the jocks and their "pyramid" kept falling down after about the second layer of cups and cans.

We left the kitchen and went down a set of stairs into the basement. The air down here was hazy and had a weird smell to it.

"There's Lisa," Dean shouted to be heard above the music.

"Okay. What's that smell?" I yelled back, equally as loud.

"Weed. This where the potheads hang out so that their smoke doesn't bother the other partiers upstairs."

"Wait...so Lisa is a pothead?"

"No! Her friends' boyfriends are and..maybe a couple of her friends too, but not her." With that he disappeared into the crowd to Lisa.

I didn't like the smell of the smoke so I went back upstairs. When I got to the top and opened the door, I sucked in deep breaths and closed the door tightly behind me.

"...brought another keg," some boy I didn't know was saying to a girl next to him.

Smiling, she twirled some hair around her pointer finger. "Really? Where is it?"

"In the kitchen," the boy replied leading her towards the kitchen and the keg.

Suddenly a beer seemed like a really good idea. I went to the kitchen and looked for a red solo cup. Not finding one, I took one from the toppled pyramid that jocks from earlier had abandoned. Once it was filled, I headed to the living room.

Leaning against the wall I noticed a beautiful blonde girl wearing a tight short dress grinding against some boy. She turned and I saw that it was Jo. I was surprised that I found myself extremely attracted to her. Looking down, I noticed my beer was more than half way gone already. I wondered if that had anything to do with this attractiveness. After a moment, I decided it didn't matter and I also decided that I didn't like how she was grinding against that guy and not me. I set my beer down by the wall and contemplated whether or not I should dance with her.With only a moments hesitation, I pushed off the wall and began to weave my way through the throng of dancing bodies.

"Hey," I shouted, as I tapped Jo's shoulder to get her attention.

She turned around and looked ready to bitch me out, as if random guys approached her and hit on her all the time. When she saw it was me, her face brightened and she put on her most seductive smile.

"Hey yourself," she yelled back, instantly forgetting the guy behind her. He didn't seem too offended because he had already moved on to a new girl and was running his hands all over her. She didn't seem to mind so I forgot him too, turning my attention back to Jo.

I didn't know the speed of the song or even how to really dance, but I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her close. She put her arms around my neck, one hand resting on the nape of my neck, the other's fingers wrapped in my hair. We began to sway slowly back and forth to the music, her head resting against my chest and a small smiling playing on her lips.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" a voice asked as a hand gripped my shoulder and jerked me away from Jo. I spun around, hands clenched into fists and my temper high, and came face to face with a tall, broad shouldered guy.

"What do you mean what am I doing? She's not your girlfriend," I snapped back haughtily.

"Ty, back off. I told you weeks ago. We are done," Jo said, pronouncing each word slowly and carefully. She'd had more to drink than I thought.

"Listen to Jo, Ty, back off. Go find some other girl to bother."

He glared at me and hissed, "What did you say to me you little punk ass?"

"I said get lost you..." I was stopped mid sentence as his fist made contact with the left side of my jaw and sent me flying. My head smacked the floor with a muffled thud. Little stars of grey began to dance in front of my eyes. I got up, trying to ignore the dizziness, and swayed a little.

Looking around, I saw that Jo had disappeared.

"You just weren't smart enough to stay down, were you?" Ty sneered at me. People had stopped dancing by this time and had formed a giant ring around the room.

I quickly scanned the ring of people for a gap. Finding none, I turned back to Ty.

"You really are dumber than I thought if you think that you can knock me out with one punch," I shot back, taking on a defensive stance. There was no way I was going to be able to beat this guy. He was taller and had a bigger build. Plus I had only just begun to take defensive fighting classes before my parents died.

Ty didn't waste time; he came charging at me. Instead of trying to punch me again, like I thought he would, he ducked and tackled me with the basic football player move. My head took another nasty hit and this time I thought I would black out. I lay there trying to catch my breath. It didn't help that the stupid jock had me pinned to the floor. One arm was bent across my chest with his weight behind it, and he was giving me repeated blows to the stomach with his other fist.

Just when I thought I was going to die from lack of oxygen, I felt Ty's weight from my chest disappear. After gasping for air for a couple seconds, I looked up to see where he had gone, but a shape obstructed my view.

"Oh my gosh! Castiel, are you okay? I ran down stairs and got Dean as soon as Ty punched you! That jerk! Dean will put him in his place and teach him a lesson!" Jo exclaimed as she lightly grasped my face in her hands, turning it this way and that, and examined it for damage.

Looking over her shoulder, I saw that Dean had in fact taught Ty a lesson. He now lay balled up on the floor across the room clutching his stomach and moaning in agony.

"Let's go," Dean said hastily. He was standing on my other side and he looked pissed. Reaching his hand down, he clasped my forearm and hauled me to my feet.

"Why?" I asked, confused at why we would be leaving so soon. "What time is it?"

Dean looked at me me, mouth hanging open in exasperation. Finally, he said, "You must have hit your head harder than I thought. Do you not remember just getting your ass kicked?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to ruin the party for you guys."

This time it was Jo's turn to be shocked. "It got ruined when you got the shit kicked out of you by my ex."

"Yeah, I guess that would ruin a party," I muttered as I followed Dean and Jo out the door and back to the car. None of us said much on the way back to Jebb's house and I was glad. I didn't really want to talk or think about what had just happened back at the party.

We got back at 12:30 with a half hour to spare and I walked up to my room as silently as possible. No one was awake and that was a miracle. The left side of my jaw was the size of New York and I had no idea how I was going to explain this to everyone in the morning.

I plopped onto my bed and fell asleep instantly.

 

 


	15. The Morning After

The next morning I woke up early, but no matter how much I tried I couldn't fall back to sleep. So I got up and decided to take a shower. Afterwards I took a quick glance in the mirror at my face. My jaw had a giant black and blue mark on it. Lifting up my shirt revealed that my ribs and stomach were going to be black and blue for a while.

I walked out of the bathroom and over to my dresser. I pulled open a few drawers and rifled through the mess of clothes inside. Normally I wouldn't take so long to get dressed, but I wanted to prolong breakfast as much as possible. Finally I decide that I couldn't waste any more time and just threw on a blue shirt and jeans. That would only take care of my stomach, but not my face. Grabbing my backpack, I headed out of the room and down to breakfast.

When I walked into the dining room, I made sure to keep the bruised side of my face away from everyone. But once I sat down, the was a collective intake of breath from just about everybody at the table- aunt Kathy choked.

Once she had regained control, she asked, "My goodness boy. What happened to your face?"

I hesitated only for a moment. Lying wasn't something I had wanted to do, but I had already broken one of her rules- no partying. "I got it yesterday when I went to Dean's house. Some kids were playing basketball and it bounced off the backboard and hit me square in the jaw. I just have poor luck. That's all."

As I glanced around the table, it seemed that everyone believed my story...except for Austin. Hopefully he wouldn't have the audacity to bring it up during breakfast.

On the way to school, none of us really said anything. We all sat in silence thinking about our day and what was to come.

Austin pulled into his usual spot in the parking lot. Front row, third space to the left of the front stairs. I grabbed my bag from the back as soon as we were parked and rushed out the car to my locker.

"Okay. No way a random basketball could leave behind a bruise that big. What really happened? You can trust me. I promise I won't tell Mom and Dad," Austin whispered from fiercely from behind me.

"Nothing," I whispered, slamming my locker as I turned to face him.

"Don't lie to me Castiel. If someone is giving you trouble, I can make them stop bothering you."

I sighed. His offer was truly nice, but I didn't want his help. This was my problem and I wanted to fix it myself.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I can take care of this on my own," I grumbled back as I headed off to first period Chemistry.

"Oh, Castiel! How are you?" Jo yelled from across the room when we walked in. Austin gave me a look that implied that this wasn't over and slumped into his desk.

"I'm fine," I smirked. "Why? Were you worried about me?"

She blushed and shot me a glare. "No of course not. I was just making small talk. So only one more day until the formal...two if you count today!"

The formal. Oh geez, I had completely forgotten about that. I didn't have anything to wear...

"Yeah, I can't wait." I didn't say more because the teacher came in and began her usual rant about how cool chemistry was and blah blah blah.

It wasn't until block three P.E. when I realized that Dean wasn't at school. I remembered how early that week he had been talking about hunting trips with Jo and I wondered if he was on one now.

Before I could go into more depth on that thought, the teacher walked into the gym and gave information on what we were going to be doing. Apparently, we were going to be playing trench, which is basically dodgeball. The rules are kind of similar too. There are no head shots. If you hit someone in the head, you're out. Also if the person who got you out gets hit, you're back in the game.

As soon as we all have a ball, we are told by the teacher to spread out. I choose a corner next to the gym doors and look around the room. All the kids are either douchebags or nerds, nobody I'd like to make an alliance with.

The teacher blows the whistle, signaling that we can start, and I stay where I am. I watch as the douchebag athletes charge each other or form alliances to take out the nerds. It only takes them a matter of seconds to take out the few nerds and then focus their attention back onto the other douchebag athletes. The whole time I stand there waiting to make my move and nobody notices me. When there are only about four douchebag athletes left, I make my move. I take out two with no problem, picking up other balls that other players had dropped when they got out. Only one of the two other players left knows what's going on by this time and I strike out the oblivious one. I have no balls left and the other player knows it. She throws her ball and I dodge it, but barely. It quizzes by my left shoulder. We both scramble for a ball at the same time. Somehow I get to one first and I throw it at her, hitting her in her right shin, and win the game.

After gym I had decide to take a quick shower, but we got out a little late, so the gym teacher wrote those of us who wanted to shower a note.

I arrive at anatomy and physiology ten minutes late and give Mr. Wolfeson the note. He opens it and reads. Several seconds, which felt like hours, pass before he's done reading and tells me to take a seat. Everyone stares at me while I walk across the room and plop into my chair. It isn't until I sit down that I notice Dean is there.

"Where were you?" I whisper to him as I take out my notebook and a pencil to take notes.

He jots down a couple of things into his notebook before he says, "I was on a trip with my family."

"A hunting trip?"

"Why does it matter? It was a trip," he replied irately.

"Whoa. No need to be an ass. I was just asking," I grumbled back.

He glared at me, and then it disappeared as fast as it had come, like he just realized what a jerk he was being.

"Sorry," he mumbled, massaging his temples with his fingers, trying to diffuse the anger. "Your face looks better today."

I laughed. "No it doesn't," I replied haughtily.

"I can teach you to fight if you want," Dean said suddenly. It was so random and absurd that all I could do was stare at him. "I'm serious. My dad is big into knowing how to defend yourself, so he made me take lessons most of my life. I could teach...if you want."

I thought about it for a moment. There were guys like Ty everywhere in the world and I didn't like being defenseless. Plus Ty had made me look stupid in front of Jo and I didn't like that. Once I learned how to fight, I would teach him that he shouldn't mess with me again.

I smiled a big, goofy grin that spread ear to ear. "Yeah. That would be great. When do we start?"

"We can start tomorrow after school," Dean smirked, staring at me with a look I didn't recognize and I wasn't sure if I liked it.

 

 


End file.
